Reports, proud muckraking, photos, videos and musings from the veteran LGBT and AIDS human rights advocate Michael Petrelis. Based in San Francisco since 1995.
Contact: MPetrelis_at_AOL_dot_com.
Vote Petrelis for BART Board District 9 in November!

Wednesday, January 06, 2016

Exciting Berlin & Beyond Film Fest at the Castro Theatre

Another terrific cinematic year for Bay Area foreign film lovers kicks off soon with the latest edition of the Berlin & Beyond German language movie smorgasbord at our cherish Castro Theater.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of this always-stimulating festival and the program is eclectic and sure stimulate the eyes, and many discussions after the films are show on the big screen.

Two highlights for me include "Iraqi Odyssey", which is Switzerland's Oscar 2016 submission, and the silent classic "Berlin, Symphony of a Great City", a film I haven't seen since the 1980s. The print was faded, but its beauty shone through regardless.

Don't miss this rare opportunity to see a clean print of "Berlin, Symphony of a Great City" and presented with live musical accompaniment.

Click here for more info on the movies, show times and tickets. How many flicks will you see? Excerpted from the official press announcement:

"The 20thBerlin & Beyond Film Festival (Jan 14-Jan 20) is excited to return to San Francisco’s beautiful Castro Theatre movie palace and the Goethe-Institut auditorium to celebrate its 20th year with a selection of the best award-winning films and talents in contemporary European cinema."This year’s festival boasts a selection of the best films from Germany, Austria, Switzerland and a rising crop of international co-productions as well as a number of premieres, including the international premiere of Lars Kraume’s ensemble comedy/drama Family Party, Germany’s answer to Thomas Vinterberg’s memorable A Celebration (Festen), the North American premiere of spy drama After Spring Comes Fall and the US premiere of Martin Hawie’s gritty, black-and-white Toro."The 2016 festival program will open with a rare appearance by rising international star Tom Schilling, who will receive the festival’s Spotlight Award for Acting before the opening night screening of his latest starring role, the German Film Award-winning blockbuster Who Am I – No System Is Safe. The actor, seen recently by American audiences in The Woman In Gold (2015), will also be present for a Castro screening of his international breakout, Jan-Ole Gersters’s critical darling A Coffee In Berlin (Oh Boy)."The festival’s other highly notable celebrity appearance will come in the form of beloved comedienne Anke Engelke, the German voice of Marge Simpson, Engelke will appear in conversation with her new comedy Ms. Müeller Must Go on Sunday evening at the Castro.

"The festival’s Castro closing on the same night will present a rare opportunity to see Wather Ruttman’s city opus Berlin, Symphony of a Great City on the big screen—and a first in recent Berlin & Beyond history—a classic silent accompanied by a live musical performance by German electronic/acoustic band ALP.